The Halfa Games
by Number One Fan of Journey
Summary: 60 years after Panem first instituted the Hunger Games, Danny Fenton finds himself trapped in a Games of a completely different color. Will he be able to keep his ghost half secret? Will he even be able to protect his friends in an arena full of hostile ghosts?
1. A Ghost of a Chance

A/N: I'm not 100% sure I'm going to continue with this idea, but I just need to do something to channel my craze after finishing _Danny Phantom_. And apparently the only thing I can do is write _Hunger Games_ crossovers, so here we are.

For the most part, you can assume that most of the DP series has happened (though not exactly the same considering we're in Panem); however, _The Ultimate Enemy_ and _Phantom Planet_ have not happened, and encounters with Vlad have not quite been the same.

In any case, enjoy my first contribution to the phandom.

* * *

District 3 is devoid of ghosts. Officially, at least. The Capitol isn't going to admit that there's something out there it can't easily control.

So, my family's basement and Op Center don't exist. The frequent but usually quickly resolved attacks that take up most of my free time don't exist.

And half of me doesn't exist.

I guess there are worse things than being an unsung hero. I'm not being hunted down by Peacekeepers—actively—and my friends and family are pretty much safe as long as I can keep exorcising the ectoplasm.

...And as long as it's not today.

"That stage is a horrific waste of metal ore." Sam crosses her arms with a scowl. "Are recycled products not good enough for the Capitol?"

"Not unless it's in fashion." Tucker adjusts his ridiculous top hat reserved for days like these. "Speaking of which, how did you manage to get that dress?"

Sam looks down at her full-length black dress with fringes of purple lace, her arms held out to let the sleeves billow a little. "More like, 'How did I manage to change out of my parents' idea of a dress without getting caught?'."

"All it takes is a little well-timed distraction," I say, grinning at her.

She chuckles. "Oh, yes. You can be very distracting." She pauses without breaking eye contact. Even a bare blush is easy to spot on her pale cheeks as she glances away. I feel my face heat up and do the same.

The crowd is pretty dense, and you can smell the sweat and grease on the others' clothes. Just about everyone in my age group is accounted for, but thankfully the tense atmosphere prevents any roughhousing. Even Dash and Kwan are just standing stiffly, tugging at their bow ties.

Jazz is somewhere ahead of me, but there are too many heads between the Fifteen and Seventeen sections for me to make her out clearly. I think I glance a flash of her hair—she and Mom are pretty much the only ones in the district with an orange that bright—but she disappears just as quickly.

That makes four of us that are still up for reaping. But we've made it this far. There are a ton of people in District 3, and none of us have had to take tessarae. We'll be fine.

I still feel my fists clenching when the escort steps onto the non-recycled stage. They're calling the girl first, so that's Sam and Jazz to worry about.

Which I won't. The odds are in our favor. Neither of them is going to be reaped. Then one more year, and Jazz at least will be safe from the Games forever.

I stare at the slip entering the escort's hand as hard as I can, but unfortunately x-ray vision isn't one of my powers. The escort holds the paper in front of her, fingers pinching both sides of the slip, before her lips form the tribute's name.

...It's no one I've heard of.

Letting a breath out, I share glances with Sam and Tuck, but they don't know the girl, either.

Sam and Jazz are safe. Jazz will be completely safe in one more year. It's okay...

Well, no, it's not really okay. That stranger is still probably going to lose her life for no good reason. The Hunger Games are still going to happen. And with or without ghost powers, I'm still just one kid. I'm in no position to take down the entire government. Maybe someday...

But first I have to survive this reaping.

Far too little time passes before the escort is drawing the boy's name. Not me, not Tucker. Not me, and not Tucker...

"Dash Baxter!"

I stare at the escort for a second before the name really clicks. Frozen, I manage to turn my head just enough to see Dash and Kwan. They're discussing something animatedly, but the words aren't really reaching me. In the end, Dash pushes his friend aside and runs for the stage.

...Dash is going to be out of my hair. No more bullying, no more torment...

I feel sick as soon as the thought has crossed my mind. There's a victory in there somewhere, but it's not worth it. There's a word for that... Pythagorean?

Anyway, he's the star of the football team for a reason. He might just stand a chance.

Some of the crowd tries to follow the new tributes and their Peacekeeper escorts to the Justice Building, and the rest of us start to disperse.

"Well," Tucker finally starts, "we made it through another year."

Sam looks over her shoulder at the Justice Building and mutters, "They didn't."

I shove my hands in my pockets, taking a step forward. "It happens every reaping, Sam."

She turns on me, her eyes livid as she leans in. "Are you saying I should just accept it, then?"

"Of course not!" I sigh, looking ahead so I don't run over anybody as we get going. "I... I don't know what I'm saying."

"I say we keep walking to the Nasty Burger." Tucker slips his PDA out of his pocket, having no trouble working it while walking. "It was as bittersweet of a reaping as always, but there's still a celebration feast. And I for one could use some tasty meat to take the edge off of the morning."

Sam sighs. "Right." She looks down, putting a hand on her stomach. "I wouldn't mind a salad..."

She's still glowering at the ground several steps later.

"Sam?" I start. "You okay?"

"Yeah..." With a growl, she fists her hands. "Except I'm not. We're still doing the same old things, going along with everyone else like sheep, when there's this huge evil hanging over our heads! Danny..." Her frame relaxes a little, but her gaze on me is still intense. "You could change it. There has to be some way—some way to get rid of the Games, and—"

"Sam!" Tucker rapidly turns his head to the side, his eyes wide. Sam's mouth snaps shut, and she glances at his PDA. He discreetly nods to his left. Without turning my head, I risk a glance, but I can't see anything from the corner of my eye. Tucker knows what he's doing, though. If something's listening in on us, he'll catch its signal.

"And I just wish it was possible," Sam mutters, obviously more for the audience than either of us.

"Yeah." My agreement isn't just putting on a show. "I wish it was."

But... it's not. The Capitol's unprepared for a ghost attack, sure. But just how much damage would I have to do to get rid of the Hunger Games once and for all? Even Tucker hasn't been able to come up with a plan. We don't have enough information about the Capitol, and he hasn't been able to safely hack into their stuff. District 3 reports he can handle, but that doesn't get us much information from the other parts of the country.

We don't even know if real ghosts show up in other districts. But with the only operational Ghost Zone portal in my basement, District 3 might be the only place that's haunted.

We walk in silence until Tucker squints at the Nasty Burger ahead. "Is it just me, or is the crowd smaller this year?"

Sam follows his gaze as he adjusts his thick-rimmed glasses. "The popular crowd is probably busy in the Justice Building."

"At least Dash'll have a good send-off." I try to focus on the impending burgers instead, but I can only imagine them for a second before my mouth flies open, a visible wisp of breath escaping. "Oh, no. _Now?_ "

Sam frowns and stops walking, discreetly checking our surroundings. "When have ghosts ever waited for a good time?"

"Point taken." I come to a stop and search for a good hiding spot. "Looks like I'll have to give a good send-off myself. Cover me."

I back up against the side of a building without any obvious cameras, and Tucker and Sam block me off from any other witnesses.

"I'm going ghost!"

It only takes a moment of concentration to summon the familiar ring of light around my stomach. It splits in two, one shooting down to my feet and the other to my head, both leaving my ghost form in their wake. Since I'm already wearing black today, the change isn't quite as noticeable except for the silver boots, gloves, and collar. At the edge of my vision, my black hair turns white, and the glow of the circles dissipates.

With a hop, I rocket over my best friends' heads and slow to a hover a few feet above the building. My fists clench in a floating battle stance as I scan the area where my ghost sense went off.

"Nothing on the ground…"

"Danny!"

I look down to see Sam's hands cupped around her mouth.

"Vultures at three o' clock!"

"Those guys again?" I turn in place until the three green globs come into view. "Well, that explains why I haven't heard a loud self-introduction yet."

The last time they came around, they were after my dad. As to why, they never told me before I blasted them and forced them back into the Ghost Zone.

Why they're coming for me right now, I can guess.

"Back for seconds?" I start, a thin green glow surrounding my hands.

They come to a stop just outside a comfortable talking distance. But it's still a comfortable shooting distance, so I can't complain.

"We're going for a different strategy this time," says the one in the front with the especially throaty voice. "Try to avoid some of the mishigas."

The one with the smallest fez flaps forward to float even with the first one. "If you're going to keep us from doing our jobs, we might as well—" he coughs—"get you out of the way before we even bother."

I hunch a bit, ready to surge forward. "Good luck."

They rear back before darting past me—one to the right, one to the left, and one above. I spin to catch a glimpse of the green blurs, but they double back, whizzing by on every side. One more lap, and the churning in my stomach proves they're just trying to make me dizzy.

"I don't get airsick that easily," I call as the blurs of ectoplasm keep circling. "But you guys are looking a little green around the beak yourselves!"

With a shout, I arch my back and send a blast of energy out on all sides, the glowing green sphere expanding until it crashes into the vultures. I can finally make out their features as they ricochet off the blast and lose altitude. I grunt, forming and throwing three discs of ecto-energy while I have a clear shot. They manage to right themselves and fly up before they get hit.

But their recovery puts them within punching range.

"Haah!" I smash a fist into the center vulture and spin to slam a kick into a second. A sharp pain hits between my shoulder blades before I can get to the third one.

"Yow!" Turning around, I blast him, glimpsing the scrap of black fabric clamped in his beak as he falls. No wonder these guys pride themselves on their pecking ability.

Before my back even stops stinging, the other two are flying straight at me, sunlight shining off their blue beaks. Just as they're about to ram me, I jump up, and they crash into each other.

"You guys have got to stop falling for that." I prepare myself as the three of them get their bearings and fly back into formation, wings flapping. "What do you have against my dad, anyway? Did he beat you himself when I wasn't looking?"

"It's nothing like that."

"We're just following orders, ghost boy," says the lead one. "It's not personal."

I hover in place, keeping all of them in sight. "Whose orders?"

The vulture with sunglasses glances up. "Vl—"

"Hey!" The one in front turns on him. "There's no reason to say his name, meshugine!"

"Peh!" he spits. "Him asking for it isn't a reason?"

Considering there aren't many names that start with a "Vl," I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's "Vlad." And I only know one Vlad who would have ghosts working for him.

Okay, I only know one Vlad period, but still.

"Then I guess I'll just have to send you back to him," I say. "I hear the Ghost Zone is pretty warm this time of year."

I shift my focus a bit, and my hands glow blue, some frost already forming on the gloves. With a sudden surge forward, I thrust my arms straight in front of me, an icy blue beam heading straight for the vultures. They immediately try to fly up out of range, but the beam catches the left one's foot. Ice encases him from the bottom up, and he drops.

Soaring higher to stay with the other two, I let a head-sized snowball form in my hands before launching it at them. It collides, knocking them both back on impact and freezing them.

"Heh. I'm sure you'll appreciate the chance to warm up." Retrieving the Fenton Thermos, I unscrew the lid. Its bright bluish beam sweeps up the three ghosts while I let myself sink back to the ground. My feet touch gravel, and I clap the lid back on.

"Nice." Tucker glances at his PDA. "You're clear here, by the way."

I glance towards the street, but the rest of the crowd has moved on. While I have the chance, I switch back from Phantom to Fenton, the same glowing circles disappearing before anyone hanging out ahead by the Nasty Burger can look over.

"Vlad Plasmius, huh?" I say as as I put the thermos away.

Sam folds her arms. "What does he have against your dad, anyway? I can't imagine an oaf like him beating Vlad in combat."

I frown. "Hey, it _has_ happened once."

"I don't think that's enough for Vlad to declare his everlasting vengeance on the guy," Tucker says, taking a step forward. "We can just chalk it up as a mystery for the time being. For now... Nasty Burger?"

I nod. "Nasty Burger."


	2. All in the Family

"Up for watching the chariot rides at my place?" Sam leans against the door frame, glancing into our living room from where she stands. "Tuck's already in the movie room."

I sigh, following her gaze. She probably can't see much behind me, but the rest of my household is on the couch.

"I don't know. Dad's been pretty down today, and I'd feel bad about leaving him. There are plenty of Games things we can watch later, right?"

"True." She takes a step backwards without turning away. "Stop by if you get the chance, all right?"

"Will do." I watch her walk down the stairs and onto the street before I shut the door.

Of course I'd rather be with my friends pretending to watch the festivities. But Dad always gets pretty bad this time of year, and I have to at least try to do something. I don't know how much good I really do, but Jazz is sure that having his whole family around him really helps out.

So I'll stay. What kind of superhero doesn't look after his own family, right?

And speaking of superhero stuff...

Dad's currently staring at the TV, tissues in hand and a family member on either side, so I resolve to make my basement trip quick. The Fenton Thermos isn't going to empty itself.

As quietly as possible, I slip into the kitchen and snake around to the right set of stairs.

I could probably get in trouble for not watching the broadcast, but I can always fly to a bathroom if Peacekeepers come knocking. It's been a good enough excuse in the past.

My footfalls echo off the pale steps to the basement as I walk into the room. The open Ghost Portal is the only source of light, covering all of the tables and lab equipment with a sickly green glow, but it's enough to work by.

Hurrying to the side of the portal where I can dump the thermos, I check behind me to make sure no one's coming. I don't know why they would be. But isn't everyone a little paranoid when the Games come around?

I slide the thermos into its slot and click the release button. A blue-green glow of ghosts shoots through the clear connecting tube before passing into the Ghost Zone.

There. The past few ghost encounters have officially been cleaned up.

And my parents act like I don't do any of my chores.

"Danny?"

"Aw, shoot." At least I'm already in human form.

"Dad?" I start as I turn around. "Everything okay?"

He's stopped in the middle of the stairs, trying to focus his gaze even though it's been blank since this morning.

"I was just going to ask you that, son." He pauses before sniffing and coming down the rest of the way. "Just wanted to check on the Ghost Portal?"

"Uh, yeah." I rub the back of my neck, feeling the odd warmth of the green glow on my skin as I turn towards the portal. "Everything looks fine. The Ecto Filtrator's still clean, too."

"Good, good." He watches the swirling portal for a minute before heaving a sigh and seating himself, his chair scraping on the tile. "You know, I've thought about sending you and Jazz in there a couple of times."

"Sending us in?" I glance at the portal before looking back over at him. His eyes are still red and puffy as he gazes past me.

"Yeah, at least during Reaping Day. Just in case you..." He blows his nose on his handkerchief. "But it's such a dangerous place, I don't know if it'd be any better."

Believe me, I can survive a day in the Ghost Zone. But to send us in during Reaping Day... I guess we'd be pretty hard to find. But Mom and Dad would get in huge trouble if anyone knew they helped us escape. And we'd probably be dead meat if we ever came back.

"I just—I can't lose anyone else to the Games," Dad mumbles, although he's still as loud as usual.

Letting out a breath, I pull up my own chair. Here it comes.

"Vladdy and I were the best of friends. He and your mother got along great, too. The three of us... We were a force to be reckoned with. Did you know Vladdy himself came up with the theory of a Ghost Portal?" He waves a hand at the green archway in front of us. "He was there for the first test run, too. Maybe he shouldn't have been."

Dad looks at the floor, still gripping his handkerchief. "If it weren't for the accident, for the miscalculations I made, he never would have gotten Ecto-Acne. Even if he still would have been reaped, he would have at least been in better health, had more sponsors."

"I mean, it's not your fault he got reaped." I feel like I've said this before, but there are only so many arguments I can come up with.

"Of course not." He looks over the array of gadgets set out on the lab tables. "But Vladdy missed out on so much. He never got to go out on a big ghost hunt, or help build some of these Fenton devices—" he picks up one such device that looks kind of like a radio, only to toss it aside—"see a fully-functional Ghost Portal, be my best man, meet my kids..."

He slumps over in the chair, his head hung. I walk towards him and put a hand on his shoulder, but he doesn't move.

Really, Jazz? "Just being there" is enough? It sure doesn't seem like it.

My gaze goes from the back of Dad's head to the Ghost Portal.

If there's one thing that could cheer Dad up a little, it's ghost hunting.

I carefully lift my hand from his shoulder, and he doesn't seem to notice. Before he even has a chance to look up, I make myself invisible and float silently to the Ghost Portal. I stick my head through for a quick look around. As usual, the unstable waves of green energy swamping the place make it hard for my eyes to focus. But overall the Zone is pretty still.

Except for that.

"Hey! You!" I hop through the portal, transforming into Danny Phantom. The ectopus passing by comes to a halt, hissing.

"Can you help me out for a second? You'll be back in the Ghost Zone before you know it."

It just floats there, hissing and quivering.

"I didn't hear a no." Shooting forward, I use both hands to clamp its legs—tails?—together and fling it through the portal. That's enough to make it shriek, so I turn invisible and hurry after it. There's a good blind spot behind the nearest heap of lab equipment, so I transform and duck back out where Dad can see me.

The ectopus is still making noise, darting around the basement. It's enough to get Dad's attention—he's on his feet, even if he still looks disoriented. For a second I panic that he doesn't have any ghost-fighting equipment on him, but that's not even remotely possible. He doesn't exactly look ready and raring to go, though. Maybe I need to up the ante.

The ghost is still flying around haphazardly, and at some point it crosses in front of a small mirror. Making sure Dad's not looking, I point and shoot a little beam of green energy. With a high-pitched whine, it bounces off the mirror and knocks the ectopus towards me.

"Oh, no!" I yell. "A _ghost_!"

"Danny!" Dad finally lunges for the nearest weapon. "Look out!"

He rears back before throwing his arm forward, the glowing line of the Fenton Ghost Fisher zipping out. With a grunt, he swings his arm in an arc, and the hook comes around, snagging into the corner of the ectopus's wide mouth. The ghost screeches, its legs struggling, but Dad spins himself around. His "catch" follows him in a wide circle until he snaps the fishing pole back, dislodging the hook. The ghost's momentum sends it flying back through the portal.

The fishing line swings back, wrapping itself around the pole. Dad keeps it in hand as he hurries towards me. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I smile. "Thanks, Dad."

He takes a deep breath before pulling me into a bear hug. "Nothing's going to hurt you while I'm around, Danny boy."

"I believe you." After another minute of suffocating in his jumpsuit, I pull back a little. "You... want to go back upstairs?"

Sniffing, he slaps me on the back. "Yeah."

* * *

Jazz clutches her textbooks to her chest. "That's all it took, huh?"

I shut my locker, checking one of the hallway clocks. "It's not like he was totally back to normal afterwards. It just brought him a little bit out of his funk."

"That's still great progress, though." She tilts her chin up to glance at the ceiling. "Maybe we could do this a couple more times. It would be good for him."

"Whoa, what? You're not going to say something like—" I go into a falsetto—"he needs to recognize and understand his _feelings—_ or something?"

She leans against the last locker on the wall. "He doesn't need grief therapy. He lost a really good friend to trauma—it seems like a pretty normal bereavement response to me. If we can do something to lift his spirits, I think we should. Oh!" She turns the second she notices Sam and Tucker approaching. "Good morning, fellow Ghost-Getters! How would you feel about taking a week off?" She throws in a wink.

"Uh..." Tucker exchanges a glance with Sam. "What?"

I take a step closer to my friends. "We might leave the ghost hunting to Dad for a little while."

Sam frowns. "No offense, but there's a reason you take care of it yourself."

"Yeah, but..." I sigh. "I have to do something to help my dad out right now. And, uh, Danny Phantom can always swoop in to help him out if he has to."

"That's true." Tucker dodges a tuba as a band kid hurries down the hall. "Are you going to hire a whole ghost brigade for him to fight or what?"

Jazz rubs her chin. "We do have access to the Ghost Portal. We could pull in as many as we want."

"This idea is sounding worse by the second," Sam says, crossing her arms. "Leave all of the ghost hunting to Mr. Fenton _and_ let more ghosts into the real world?"

"Come on, Sam," I respond. "It's not like we're going to let the Ghost King in or anything. Just the less threatening ones. You know, Box Ghost, Klemper, some ectopuses—"

"Ecto _pi_ ," Tucker interrupts.

I roll my eyes. "Ectopi. Just enough to take his mind off of things."

Sam's face has hardly brightened. "You do realize we could still have an actual ghost attack in the middle of this? You're just making more work for yourself."

"I can handle it." The warning bell nearly cuts me off.

"And I can help!"

Glances are thrown as we try to figure out where the voice came from, but then a girl slips around the corner. Hands in the pocket of her hoodie, she leans back against the wall of lockers with a grin.

I feel my eyes widen. "Dani? What are you doing here?"

Jazz repeats her name, frowning at her. "You know her, Danny?"

"She's our, uh, cousin? It's complicated."

"Oh, is this Jazz?" Dani perks up, stepping over to my sister. "Nice to meet you! I'm Dani Fenton." She grins. "Also Dani Phantom."

Jazz just stares for a second before shaking it off. "Nice to meet you, too, Dani."

Sam smirks. "He told you it was complicated."

"I'll explain later." I turn to my "cousin." "Not that I don't mind seeing you, but aren't you cutting it a little close to the reaping?"

"Hey, I wasn't here for _that_. And it's not like it would even matter, anyway, since I'm not on their lists."

"You still need to watch it." Tucker takes a step back, in the direction of the classroom. "The Capitol can update their lists any time, whether you were actually born here or not."

"Fine, fine, I'll be careful."

I start to follow Tucker to the classroom, but Dani stays behind me.

"So what exactly are you guys planning?" she asks. "Some kind of ghost outbreak?"

Frowning, I check the hallway to make sure no one heard that. "How about I explain it to you later? I kinda have class right now."

She nods, her shoe squeaking as she takes a step backwards. "Okay, sure. Meet you at your house!"

"Don't get caught," I call over my shoulder as she speeds down the hall.


	3. The Apparent Trap

I don't think that anything's up until my ghost sense goes off on the walk home.

"Oh, boy." Tucker looks up from his PDA as my breath vanishes. "Assume battle positions?"

Jazz surveys the area, her hair nearly smacking me in the face. "I don't see Dad anywhere... but I don't see the ghost, either."

I almost chuckle. "We would've heard Dad by now if he was on his way. What's a safe place around here, Tuck?"

He consults the almighty PDA. "Too many cameras for a human to avoid. If you need to go ghost soon, we'll just have to cover you."

I growl, "Great."

If only my parents didn't want to rip Danny Phantom apart molecule by molecule. Maybe then the cameras wouldn't matter.

Okay, I've probably made more enemies—and unsavory fans—than that. It's just never going to work out.

Oh, well. I've kept my identity under wraps so far, and I can keep it up.

Now, where is that ghost?

The four of us pick up the pace towards a less camera-heavy spot, Sam securing the miniature ecto-blaster she likes so much on her wrist.

"Danny!"

I glance at Jazz to see what's up before I realize the voice didn't come from behind me. I snap my head up instead, and the ghost finally pops into view.

Staggering in mid-air from panic, Dani Phantom dips down a little more. "Danny, you have to hurry!"

"Hurry where? What happened?" I look her over, but she doesn't seem to be injured or dissolving into ectoplasm. "Mom and Dad didn't catch you, did they?"

She shakes her head. "No, I was just waiting in the basement and—" She lets out a high-pitched grunt of frustration. "We don't have time! Come on!"

She soars off in the direction of our house, leaving the rest of us to break into a run.

"Wait a second," Jazz starts. "Who was that ghost just now?"

"Dani." A glance behind me proves that Jazz is still trying to put the jumble of new pieces together. "Our cousin—clone—halfa—person—never mind. Let's just go see what happened."

Sam is at my right, clearly holding back so she doesn't overtake the rest of the group. "I'm guessing something bad came out of the Ghost Portal."

"As opposed to something good?" Tucker retorts.

Sam rolls her eyes. "I mean something _particularly_ bad. Dani looked pretty freaked out."

"Then I guess Danny Phantom's break from ghost fighting is going to have to wait another day." Unable to transform, I do my best to keep up a running pace past the factories and up to our house.

My ghost sense goes off again.

I take a second to catch my breath before padding up the porch stairs. Sam opens the door, and we all file through. Since the lights are out, it's much easier to see the glowing green figure of Technus.

I go ghost and snarl. "What do you want?"

He cackles. "I, Technus, the Ghost Master of All Technology—whoa!" He darts to the side as the beam of the Fenton Thermos surges towards him.

"So close," Sam mutters before capping the thermos.

"Insolent child!" Technus points a finger at Sam. "Your attempts to entrap me within a mechanical piece of technology are doomed to fail!"

Tucker shrugs. "It's worked fine before."

"And you should know, ghost child, that the new and improved Technus does not blurt out all of his genius plans!"

I clench my fists. "Then I guess I'll have to beat them out of you instead."

Leaping towards him, I shoot a beam of ectoplasmic energy from my palms, which he ducks to the side to dodge. With a laugh, he phases through the wall.

"At least he's not after Fenton Works." Jazz peeks into the kitchen. "Where are Mom and Dad?"

"Definitely not here," I respond. "Now to go after Technus..."

"Danny!"

I stop, hovering in place, as I turn my head.

Dani hurries to float in front of me. "You made it."

"Yeah." I point a thumb at the east wall. "Technus left that way. What was he doing when you came to get me?"

She shakes her head. "He wasn't even here yet."

"So he's not the threat?" Sam responds with a frown.

"He's _part_ of it." Dani lets herself sink to the ground, although she stays in ghost form. "I don't know what happened. I was standing around waiting in the basement when the Ghost Portal went berserk. I was able to beat back a couple of them, but there were too many coming all at once."

"Wait a second." I fall back to level ground with her. "A whole bunch of ghosts came through the portal at the same time?"

She nods. "I would have kept fighting them, but..." She trails off, biting her lip.

"But what?" Jazz steps up next to her. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"No." She turns back to me, fidgeting. "One of them was Vlad Plasmius."

I scowl. Plasmius. The Ghost World's number-one fruitloop. If he's involved, it's probably not just a freak portal malfunction.

"Did he see you?" Tucker asks.

Dani shakes her head. "I vanished the second I saw him. I guess there were too many other ghosts around for him to notice me any other way." She takes a deep breath, and her eyebrows tilt inward. "I only saw them moving until I left to get you, but they were heading south."

I raise my eyebrows. "All of them?"

"Uh-huh." She fists her hands. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm pretty sure it's time to go kick some butt. You ready?"

I grin. "Let's see what we can do."

She and I take off through the front door, leaving the others to run after us.

I glance down at them. "Oops. Want a ride?"

"Sure," Sam calls at the same time Tucker says he's good.

Jazz watches Dani and me touch down before she takes a step back. "I'm going to find Mom and Dad. Dani, did you see them while you were here?"

"I went straight to the basement, and they were never down there." She hops over to Tucker. "Sure you don't need a ride?"

He looks her up and down. "Can you even carry me? I may look slim, but there's more muscle in here than you'd think."

Dani smirks, grabbing him by the shirt and cargo pants and lifting him over her head.

I laugh. "Sure there is, Tucker." I tentatively scoop Sam up, and she adjusts her position as I take off.

"Good luck, Jazz!" Dani calls as she flies up after me.

Jazz waves, getting smaller and smaller before she sets off in another direction.

"Are we going the right way?" I ask Dani, turning my head.

"Mmm-hmm," she responds, and I notice for the first time how far below me she's lagging.

"Are you sure you can handle Tucker's weight? We're going pretty fast, and I don't want you to, uh, have a meltdown."

"I'm fine, Danny." She grins up at me. "I haven't had any problems since you sprayed me with the stabilizer." She passes Tucker to one arm, making him yelp, and digs around in her back pocket. "A bottle of it was laying on the counter in the basement, so I helped myself."

"Doesn't hurt to be careful," Tucker responds pointedly. Dani laughs, hooking her other arm around him again.

I turn ahead, Sam's hair whipping past my ear. "How about you, Sam? Feel safe enough?"

"Yup," she says without hesitation, leaning her head back against my shoulder. She can't look me in the eye without craning her neck, but she still blushes. I smile before a wisp of cold breath fogs my vision a little.

Face hardening, I focus ahead. A few green bodies are flying too close to the ground for me to make out details.

"How many of them were there?" I call over the air snatching my voice away.

"I left the basement halfway through, but... Maybe twenty?"

"Twenty against four." Tucker continues to clutch his PDA to his chest. "Not the best odds."

"Especially with one being Plasmius," Sam adds, frowning. "Maybe we should wait for Jazz and your parents—or at least your mom—to catch up?"

I scan the ground. We're far enough out of town now that it's mostly scrubland and a handful of run-down buildings. No danger of casualties, at least.

"We have to at least see what's going on," I say. "We'll try to stay undercover, though, all right?"

Sam sighs. "He says, fully visible."

"Hey, we're not that close yet. Besides, we have to make you and Tuck invisible, too, and that requires even more energy."

"You should be able to handle that much if you're going to take on twenty ghosts at once, dude." Tucker rolls his eyes up at me.

"Isn't the point of turning you invisible to _not_ take them on?"

Dani makes a shooshing noise, slowing down. "I think they've stopped up ahead."

I follow her gaze and put on the brakes. Ahead, past a few buildings with broken-down roofs, a couple of ghosts have come to rest on the ground. I recognize Desiree's long hair and blue tail, but I can't make out the others that clearly yet.

"Time for invisibility?" Sam hints.

"Right." I make myself vanish with ease, and it spreads to Sam. So much for the view.

"Let's come down a little more, okay?" calls Dani. She's still on my right, but I can't see her.

"Got it."

We fall silent as we come down for an almost-landing, gliding closer to the ghosts ahead of us.

Another group is farther ahead—Ember's pretty recognizable even from here, and I think Skulker's behind her—but Desiree is right here and next to Technus and Vlad.

I really hope we aren't seen now. It's bad enough with just me—I don't know what Vlad'll do if he finds out Dani's here.

I think to warn her, but we can't afford to be heard right now.

After I come to a stop not too far away from the first group, I try to figure out where she is. She hasn't hit ground or any of the trees, at least tangibly, so I have no way to tell.

Sam's grip on my arm suddenly tightens, and I snap my gaze ahead in time for something metal to clang into my face.

"Ow!" I stagger back without hitting the ground.

"Oh, Daniel!" Vlad's voice is too pleased to be genuine as he whips around. Even with a fairly normal grin, his fangs make his expression appropriately nefarious. "How nice of you to join us."

The Fenton Boo-merang clatters back to the gravel as I touch down.

"Plasmius." Putting Sam behind me, I reveal myself. "What are you after today? Some huge source of power or my dad?"

"I was merely reminiscing with some of my acquaintances," he says, still narrow-eyed and smiling. "Would you care to join us?"

Scowling, I assume a battle stance. "I've got better things to do than talk about some old guy's glory days. Why don't you tell me what's really going on here?"

Eyes widening in mock offense, Vlad puts a hand on his chest. "Really, Daniel! You think I would lie to you?"

"Survey says, yes."

Tutting, he folds his hands behind his back, pacing towards me. I try to keep Sam invisible behind me, which is a lot harder when I'm not hiding myself.

"You'd be surprised at the sheer number of vengeful ghosts the Hunger Games have produced," Vlad says, glancing over his shoulder before watching me again. "Why, I'd bargain that almost everyone you're accustomed to fighting had died in the Games. It's a tragedy, isn't it?" He finally frowns. "None of them were able to win a Hunger Games. Ah, how I wish they had another chance."

I frown, trying to figure out what he's after, before Sam gasps in my ear.

"Desiree."

"What?" I almost turn my head to look at Sam before realizing my mistake.

A sparkling, bluish fog has already started to swirl around the genie ghost. With a laugh, she holds a hand in the air, more smoke billowing around her wrist. "Your heart's desire is my command!"

"What?" I take a step back. "No!" Immediately, I jump into the air, slinging Sam around in front of me to carry. "Dani! We have to get out of here!"

My "cousin" appears immediately and grabs Tucker underneath his arms. "Got i—" She cuts off with a shriek, a jolt of pink energy knocking her back and knocking Tucker out of her grip.

Hand still smoking, Vlad smiles. "Danielle, why don't you stay here, where your father can keep an eye on you?"

She straightens up, her green eyes flashing brighter in anger. "You're not my dad!"

"Save it!" I zoom over to her, grabbing her elbow. "We have to leave, now!"

"Uh—" Tucker starts, raising a finger—"I'm still over here."

Sam grabs him by the backpack, and I shoot into the sky with everyone in tow. Straining, I cast another glance down. Desiree's smoke is filling up the area, and I can't even make out the other ghosts except for Vlad's red eyes. But I can see the pulsing green circle rising from the ground, leaving a wall in its wake. It's coming fast.

Thankfully, Dani shakes herself out of it and starts pulling her weight.

"Ready to see who can fly faster?" I shout, rearranging my friends so we're back to our previous arrangement.

"Bring it on!" Dani pulls ahead, and I pour on the speed myself.

"The ghost shield is catching up..." I raise my voice again. "Is that the best you've got?"

I force myself past Dani, and she gasps before speeding up. The wall is directly in our path now, so I have to take a sharp turn upward, which Dani follows.

We've got to outpace this, but it's not going to happen at this rate. Ugh...!

Suddenly, the wall starts to surge towards us.

"It's going to close off!" Sam shouts. "It's probably forming a dome!"

I have to go faster!

"Aahh!" I pour on all the speed I've got, Sam seeming heavier and heavier.

All it gets me is a first-class ticket to a face-smashing.

From the sound of it, Dani and I both bounce off the dome as it closes.

"Oh, no." Dani stares at the boundary, her wide eyes reflected off the green surface.

"It's just a ghost shield, right?" I say, backing up. "If we both go human, we ought to all get through with no problem."

Sam watches the barrier recede as I fly horizontally. "You're not about to do what I think you are, are you?"

"I can go ghost the second we're through and keep flying us away. Trust me."

She frowns but doesn't object as I gear up for one more mad dash.

"Here goes nothing!" I surge toward the ghost shield at top speed, transforming back into Danny Fenton before I can hit the wall. We start to sink immediately, but we're still moving forward more than fast enough to get through.

Except we don't.

"Aaaahhh!"

A pulse of electricity warps the wall and surges through us, batting us away. In a panic, I transform back, barely able to start flying before we drop too far. Sam grunts at the sudden change in momentum.

"Sorry."

Taking a deep breath, I survey the dome. It looks like an ordinary ghost shield to me. But it even shocked Sam...

Dani shoots a beam of energy at the wall, but she ends up yelping and dodging when it's reflected back.

"Silly little badgers. You didn't honestly think it would be that easy, did you?"

Already growling, I whip around to see Plasmius floating on our level.

"We haven't struck out yet," I respond, glowering.

I've got one shot at this, but I have every reason to believe it's going to work. It took out—will take out—would have taken out?—a whole city's shield, after all.

Turning my back to Vlad when Dani takes a shot at him, I suck in a deep breath and let out a ghostly wail. The sound reverberates, rocking me and hurting my ears, but I see the shield start to dim.

Just a little more...!

Throat raw, lungs running out of air, I push myself, and a gap in the green finally appears. Gasping, I surge forward, but the familiar white rings appear before I've built up enough speed.

"No!" I cry out as the crushing headache swamps me and my limbs go limp.

Sam gasps, and then she and Danny Fenton plummet.

"Danny!"

My eyes are barely open enough to see Dani flying down to catch me. She groans with the effort, and even with her help, we're all still falling. But we don't speed up, and we all thud to the ground before long. It doesn't sound like we've broken anything...

I try to look around, but all I can catch are the bright rings as Dani goes back into human form.

That was all we had. We're really...

We're trapped.


End file.
